Sickness & Health, Good Times & Bad
Post 513, the story starts after Justin spent 18 months in NYC before coming back to Pittsburgh 6 months later. Justin & Brian's relationship remained intact during the NYC sojourn. I do not own the characters just the situations.
Chapter 37
When Justin got downstairs Alice was getting chicken ready to fry for dinner. "I'm sorry for all the extra people here for dinner."
Alice smiled. "Life has gotten way more interesting around here. Charlie and I are both enjoying the boys being here. You have nothing to apologize for."
Justin went out on the patio. John, Peter, Patrick, Gus, Molly & Mark were all in the pool. "Hey Molly can I talk to you for a minute."
"What's up Justin?"
"Do you have any plans for tomorrow? I have to go to Kinnetik for a couple meetings in the morning. I was hoping you could look after Gus until I get home."
"Sure I can do that. I'll go home after dinner and get some clothes for tomorrow and let Mom know. It will be easier for me to stay here than to have to come back early in the morning."
As Justin went back in the house his cell phone rang. He saw that it was Brian so he went into the Parlor for some privacy and answered. Brian was calling to let his partner know that he planned to leave the office around 5 PM. He went on to tell him about his phone call from Lindsay and his lunchtime encounter with Michael. Also one of the account execs had screwed up a campaign schedule for a customer who was now irate. All in all Brian was having a shitty day. When he asked about dinner plans and Justin told him that Patrick, Molly & Mark would be joining them, Justin could hear the silent groan before Brian ended the call.
Justin sat and thought for a minute before calling his mother. "Hi Mom would you do me a favor."
"Sure honey. What do you need?"
"I have to go to Kinnetik tomorrow for a couple meetings so I asked Molly to spend the night. She can take care of Gus tomorrow. Can you pack some clothes for her and drop them at Kinnetik with Carole. I am going to surprise Brian and take him out to dinner, just the two of us."
"That sounds like a good idea. I'll be happy to drop off some clothes for Molly."
Justin let Alice know they wouldn't be home for dinner but would be back in time to put Gus to bed. He let Molly know that Jennifer was going to deliver clothes to Kinnetik. Next he called Carole to let her know that his mother would be dropping off clothes and that he was heading to the office so she wouldn't let Brian leave before he got there. He asked her to make a dinner reservation for them at Rosario's. One of their favorite Italian restaurants.
Justin took a quick shower, put on one of Brian's favorite shirts, grabbed a portfolio with some pencil sketches and headed to Pittsburgh.
When Justin arrived at Kinnetik Carole let him know that Brian was meeting with an account executive and Justin probably wanted to avoid the meeting. Justin smiled and agreed before heading over to the art department.
Justin gave a quick knock on the door and went into Hall's office. "Hi Hal. I have a little job that I want Jason to do for me. Just wanted to let you know."
"Jason is busy with some work for Brian. If you let me know what you need I can assign someone to complete it for you."
"Hal I'm not sure what your issues are with me but I want Jason to do this for me. It won't take him long and I don't need it until 10 o'clock tomorrow morning. I'll tell Brian I might cause a slight delay."
Before the art director could answer Justin left the office and went over to Jason's cube. "Hi Jason. I know you're busy but I need you to do something for me. I have a meeting in Brian's conference room at 10 AM tomorrow and I need this done for that meeting."
"Did you let Hal know?"
"Yes, he isn't very happy. Let me know if he gives you any grief. I have a few of my pencil sketches and I need them printed on to some card stock. You might have to do some adjusting to make them look good. Make a couple copies of each sketch."
Jason looked at the sketches. "No problem. This will take me half hour tops, even if I have to make adjustments."
"Thanks. Guess I don't need to say you should finish Brian's work first."
Jason just laughed and went back to work on his computer. Justin waved to Hal as he left the department.
Justin got back to Carole's desk just in time to see a red faced account executive leave Brian's office. Carole raised her eyebrows at Justin. "Your mother dropped off an overnight bag for you. Brian told me he does NOT want to be disturbed so proceed at your own risk."
Justin just smiled and swiped his ID card to unlock the office door. As he entered the room his partner was looking down at papers on his desk. "I told you I didn't want to be disturbed!"
When he looked up and saw his favorite blonde standing there he smiled. "What are you doing here Sunshine?"
Justin came over and sat on the edge of Brian's desk. "I came to take you out to dinner. I haven't had enough alone time with you lately."
Brian's smile got even larger as he pulled his partner into his lap. "So Mr Taylor have I told you lately how much I enjoy having you in my life."
Justin leaned in for a kiss before replying. "That is a good thing because I don't have any plans to be anywhere else but in your life."
"I don't completely understand how after such a shitty day just seeing you makes it a fucking great day."
"Don't try and figure it out just accept it. I can tell you are still feeling a little stress so let me take the edge off of that stress."
Justin pushed Brian's chair back from the desk, knelt on the floor and undid the brunet's pants. He took Brian's cock into his mouth as Brian laced his fingers in Justin's hair. It wasn't very long before Brian groaned as he came into his lover's talented mouth.
Justin's redid Brian's pants before moving in for another kiss. "Okay stud. We have dinner reservations and I'm starving, even after my protein appetizer."
Brian laughed but shut down his computer and together they left the building, after getting the bag with Molly's clothes from Carole. When they got to the garage Brian turned to Justin. "Are we both driving to Rosarios or do you want me drop you back here after dinner?"
"I'm going to leave my car here overnight. I'll drive in with you in the morning and after the meeting with the Lawyer, I'll drive home."
When they were seated at the restaurant and Justin had taken the edge off his hunger with 3 breadsticks, he started to tell Brain about some of his plans for the gallery.
"While you were reading the riot act to the account exec I went over to the art department. Hal was as happy to see me as ever."
"Sunshine if he is giving you a hard time I can fire him but you'll have to help me find a replacement."
Justin chuckled and pointed at Brian with the bread stick he was about to eat. "Your overprotectiveness is showing. I don't need you to fire Hal. If I wanted him fired I would do it myself. I own as much of Kinnetik as you do."
Brian just smirked at his partner.
"As I was saying, I went over to the art department. I took some of my pencil sketches and asked Jason to print them on card stock. We are going to make that small studio into a gift shop at the gallery. I was thinking we could sell prints of some of my sketches. We'll start with 10 sketches and make 20 prints of each. If people buy them we can print more sketches."
"I can think of several of those sketches that would be big sellers. I'm happy to sign a release if you need me to."
"Those were not the type of sketches that I was planning on printing."
"I don't know why not. I certainly don't have any problem with the world at large getting more intimately acquainted with my body."
Justin laughed. "The amazing thing is I know that you mean that."
Justin continued to explain his ideas for the gallery and what paintings he was going to ship to San Francisco for his show. Brian nodded and smiled and wasn't surprised when eating dinner did not really even seriously slow the flow of conversation from his partner.
After dinner Brian kept his arm around Justin's shoulders as they walked to the car. Justin knew this meant that Brian was feeling very happy, relaxed and content. Justin leaned against Brian with a sunshine smile on his face. On the ride home Justin kept his hand on Brian's knee. Occasionally Brian glanced at his partner with a smile on his face and patted his hand.
Around 7:30 they arrived home, Brian pulled into the garage shut off the car and grabbed Justin, pulling him close and kissing him passionately. When they moved away from each other both men had big smiles on their faces. "Thanks for arranging to meet me for dinner Sunshine."
Justin just smiled and together they went into the house. Molly, Gus, John and Peter were sitting at the kitchen table playing rummy when Brian and Justin came in from the garage.
Gus threw down his cards and ran across the room. "Hi Daddy. I'm glad you're home. Did you have a nice date with Papa?"
Brian picked up his son and gave him a kiss. "Did I have a nice what?"
"Aunt Molly said you and Papa were on a date so you could be romantic."
Brian glared across the room at Molly. "I don't go on dates so Aunt Molly was mistaken!"
Molly met Brian glare, completely unintimidated. "Whatever Daddy wants to call it. He was on a date Gus and he and Justin were being romantic. I can tell just looking at them."
Gus laughed delightedly. "You are so silly sometimes Daddy. Papa has his super happy face so I know you must have been kissing him. Papa only looks like that after you kiss him."
Brian was sincerely horrified but everyone else just laughed. Gus squirmed to get down. "I made you something special Daddy. Mrs Simpson said this was one of your favorites."
Gus took Brian's hand and pulled him over to the kitchen counter. "Look Daddy! Mrs Simpson and I made you banana bread. I wouldn't let anyone eat any until you got home and could have the first slice."
Brian looked down at the delighted seven year old who was looking up at him. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep his tears under control. He picked up his son and hugged him to his chest. "Thanks Sonny Boy. I am going have some right now."
Justin got some dessert plates out of a cabinet and handed Brian a knife. Everyone had a slice of the banana bread and told Gus how delicious it was. Brian never even thought about his no carbs after 7 rule. He ate 2 slices and told Gus it was best banana bread he ever tasted. Justin said that must be because Gus put so much love into making the bread for his Daddy.
Gus was happy that everyone enjoyed the banana bread and was also glad to eat some after waiting all day for Brian to come home. Gus sat on Brian's lap as he ate the bread and drank a glass of milk. His father didn't even seem to notice the crumbs falling on his suit pants and didn't mind when Gus wiped his hands on Brian's custom made shirt.
Shortly after everyone finished their banana bread Brain took Gus upstairs to help him get ready for bed. When Justin went upstairs, a short time later, Gus was sound asleep and Brian was sitting beside his bed just watching his son sleep.
He turned towards Justin. "Gus was worn out, he had a busy day. No need for a bedtime story tonight Sunshine. I've just been sitting here trying to figure out why Gus loves me so much."
Justin came over and out his arm around Brian's shoulders. "Maybe because he knows how much you love him and that you would do anything for him. You are pretty lovable you know."
Brian smirked. "I guess that is why you get a "super happy face" when I kiss you."
"I guess that is true."
Brian stood up and he and Justin kissed. "There's your super happy face Sunshine."
Justin took his lover's hand and led him into the bedroom.
The next morning Brian and Justin woke up early and enjoyed a leisurely shower together which included a great fuck and a blow job for Justin. Gus burst into the bedroom just as they were finishing dressing. He gave each of his fathers a good morning hug and kiss and announced it was time for breakfast.
Justin and Gus opted for sugary cereal with sliced banana to keep Brian from complaining too much about their eating habits. After binging, the previous night, on banana bread, Brian stuck to his dry wheat toast with guava juice and coffee.
By the time Justin and Brian were ready to leave for the office, Alice, Peter and Molly were all in the kitchen with Gus. Justin told Gus he would be home sometime after lunch.
When they got to Kinnetik Brian went to his office to prepare for a 9:30 conference call and Justin set himself up in Brian's conference room. He was reviewing the renovation budget for the Bloom building when Carole came to the door. "Justin I'm sorry to disturb you. Lindsay is on the phone and she is insisting that she talk with Brian. I explained he was on a business call but…"
Justin rolled his eyes and Carole laughed. "Put her through to this phone. I'll talk to her."
Carole thanked him and went back to her desk. A few minutes later the conference room phone rang. "Hi Linds, its Justin."
"I wanted to talk to Brian but his assistant says he can't be disturbed. Can you have him call me as soon as he is available."
"What do you want Lindsay."
"We are having some extra moving expenses and I need Brian to transfer some money to our account."
"Moving expenses are going through Cynthia, try again."
"The moving company charges so much for boxes and bubble wrap. We can get it cheaper but we need the cash."
"Don't worry about the cost just get what you need from the movers."
"Okay we have some bills that need to be paid but I thought Brian would freak out."
"The faster way to get Brian to freak out is to lie to him. Is Melanie there? I'd rather talk with her."
A few minutes later Melanie was on the phone. "Hi Justin."
"So Mel, what is the money really for? Is Lindsay still gambling?"
"No she is not gambling. She's going to her Gamblers Anonymous meetings. I am taking care of our finances. The problem is Linds under-estimated what she owed at the college. She had some pretty large balances at the gift shop and the cafeteria. We also had some big balances at the butcher and green grocer. I really believe this is the end, we won't need any more money from you."
"I need to say that I think honesty is the BEST policy. I'm not sure why Lindsay would try and lie about what you need the money for. How much more do you need?"
"I know and I agree. She just didn't want to admit to more mistakes. It's hard for Lindsay to admit how badly she screwed up. If you could send us $1,600 that should clear all the debt."
"I'd rather Brian didn't know about this. He is stressed enough over this mess. Also please let Lindsay know that complaining to Michael is not helping the situation. I'll have the money transferred."
Justin and Melanie said good bye and Justin headed over to Ted's office.
Ted was meeting with one of his assistants but motioned for Justin to come in the office. "Hi Ted. I need to talk with you."
"Okay. Nate we can go over these spreadsheets later."
Once they were alone Justin shut the office door. "I had a call from Toronto. They need an additional $1,600. I'd like you to transfer the money to their account. I'd rather not tell Brian so just list this under my expenses for the month."
Ted frowned. "I'll transfer the money today but I am uncomfortable lying to Brian."
"I don't want you to lie. I don't think he'll question you about what I spend. If he asks you should be honest with him."
"Okay, that's fair. Do you think this is the end or will there be more requests?"
"I spoke with Melanie and she told me this should be the end. Of course once they move here there will be more expenses."
"You know you guys really need to careful about this. There are quite a few strains on the cash flow right now."
"How serious is this?"
"You are nowhere near being in trouble but we are close to start taking from savings instead of adding to savings. There is also less money going into JB Foundation so we may need to scale back on donations."
"We have to make our contribution to Grassi House, even if that means going into savings."
Ted smiled. "Yeah, I know neither of you wants to cut back on your support there. It will be okay but we just have a few months of low cash flow. Just make sure you sell a lot of art in San Francisco."
Justin laughed as he thanked Ted and went back to the conference room. He stopped in the kitchen for some coffee and water for his meeting with Sidney. He had brought some of Alice's cookies from home. When he got back with his refreshment tray, Sidney was just arriving at Carole's desk.
"Hi Sidney, we're meeting in this conference room."
Justin put the tray on the conference room table. "Help yourself to coffee or water and some of our housekeeper's homemade cookies."
Sidney smiled. "I had some of those at your July 4th party. They are delicious. Thanks again for inviting us to the party. My grandchildren are still talking about the fireworks. My daughter in law got the recipe for your housekeeper's deviled eggs, they were the best any of us had ever tasted."
"Alice is a great cook. Everything she has ever made us has been amazing. Out nephews haven't had a lot of home cooking so they are amazed by the things Alice makes for us."
Sidney nodded. "Of course I already met Peter both he and John seem like very nice boys."
"They are great. Brian's sister is still having issues so we are going to look into assuming permanent custody of the boys. Meanwhile did you find us a perfect gallery manager?"
Sidney pulled several folders out of his briefcase. "I've interviewed 8 people for the position. I need to let you know that a couple of the longtime employees of the gallery are leaving us so we are going to have a few roles to fill."
Justin eyebrows rose. "Are the employees unhappy about Tay-Kin purchasing part of the gallery?"
Sidney smiled and shook his head. "It has nothing to do with your purchase. The people leaving have really stayed out of loyalty and now they feel like they can finally retire. So I guess I should really say the purchase frees them up to do what they have wanted to do for a while.
One of the people I interviewed was a young woman, Pat Davis. She graduated from PIFA 3 years ago and went to work at an art gallery in Cincinnati. She recently got married and moved back to Pittsburgh. I really like her. She is young, full of enthusiasm and ideas. We both realized she is not ready to be the gallery manager but I would like to hire her as the assistant manager. One idea she had was to offer part time positions to PIFA students thru their student work-study program. I contacted the school and they are very positive about the idea."
"That sounds like a great idea Sidney. She sounds like a real find so I say go ahead and offer her a position. How about her salary requirements."
"We can offer her more then she made in Ohio so I think she will be thrilled! I know you are hoping that I will recommend Lindsay Petersen for the manager position. She certainly has the best qualifications of anyone I spoke with. My main reservation about hiring her is her lack of respect for you. I found it quite unexpected and shocking."
"Lindsay has known me since I was a high school student. She was really a mentor to me when we first met and was really a great support and motivator after my bashing when I wasn't sure if I could still even be an artist. Our relationship over the years has been complicated and I believe she has a hard time accepting me as a successful artist. There is also some jealousy mixed in there. Lindsay always hoped to have the success that I've enjoyed with my art."
"You simply have more talent. That is no one's fault."
Justin chuckled. "Easier to accept when you are the one with the talent. Harder to accept when you are the one with less talent and less success."
"That is very true. During our interview Lindsay indicated that she thought things would work better if she and I kept you removed from the gallery operation. Of course, I don't agree and I let her know that. I want you to be an integral part of the gallery that is why approached you about looking for an investor. I know you won't be there on an everyday basis but I think your input is essential to keep the gallery business moving forward."
"I think we are in agreement there. I'm sure Lindsay will come around to our way of thinking. I want to stress again that this is YOUR decision and I will abide by that decision."
"We both know you would be happiest if I agree to hire Lindsay as the gallery manager."
"I won't deny that it would solve some personal issues within my family but the most important consideration should be what is best for Bloom Gallery and I sincerely mean that!"
Sidney was quiet for a moment, gathering his thoughts. "Justin I want you to be involved in the operations of the gallery. I don't want you to feel intimidated by Lindsay if we chose her a gallery manager. She also suggested to me that she could appeal to Brian to override any decision you make."
Justin laughed. "Sidney you don't know me that well but I can assure you I am not intimidated by anyone. Least of all by Lindsay. I can also assure you that Brian has no interest in getting involved in running the gallery. Even if he did, the chances of Brian siding with Lindsay over me are nonexistent. Brian and I are equal partners in life and business."
"I did tell Lindsay that I didn't think she had much of a chance in getting Brian to side with her over you. As long as you are comfortable with the choice, I say we hire Lindsay as gallery manage and Pat Davis as assistant manager."
Justin got up and brought the prints Jason had made for him over to the table. "Sidney I have hundreds of pencil sketches I have made over the years. I was thinking we could make a limited number of prints of some of the better sketches and sell them in the gallery gift shop. I had someone in the art department here make these samples. We could create the prints here at Kinnetik for next to nothing. We'd number them and guarantee only that number of prints would be created."
Sidney looked over the prints. "That sounds like a great idea and it would also highlight your connection to Bloom Galley."
Having agreed on their major decisions Justin and Sidney discussed the renovations, the grand reopening and the changeover of payroll and accounting to Ted's area. When Sidney left it was almost time for Brian and Justin to meet with their attorney.
Justin went through the connecting door to Brian's office. He sat on the sofa and waited for Brian to finish a phone call. When Brian hung up Justin started to fill him in on what happened during his meeting with Sidney.
Justin downplayed what Sidney had told him about Lindsay's attitude towards Justin being involved with the gallery. Justin could tell that Brian was relieved that Lindsay was the choice for gallery manager.
Carole buzzed Brian to let him know their lawyer, Larry Buchanan, had arrived. Brian and Justin sat on the office sofa and Larry sat opposite them.
"First I want to let you guys know that custody cases are outside my area of expertise. However one of our associates, Anabel Harper, is an ace at these cases. I spoke to her about your situation and to be honest she does not think this is a slam dunk."
Brian frowned. "So it's the gay thing?"
"Partially that and partially the courts like to keep children with their biological mothers. The fact that you are basically estranged from your sister and mother also works against you. The court may think that this move for permanent custody is less about what is best for John & Peter and more about punishing your sister."
Justin chimed in. "But doesn't the fact that the boys prefer to stay with us count for anything?"
"That is a big plus but they will have to appear in court, in front of their mother, and say that do not want to live with her. That can be very difficult no matter how badly their mother has let them down. Also you obviously can offer many more monetary benefits. The case could be made that all the material things you are providing them with are a form of bribery."
Brian nodded. "So are you saying we shouldn't try for permanent custody?"
"That is your decision. I just want to be sure you understand all the ramifications. You did tell me that the boys thought Claire was under the influence of drugs at their lunch meeting. Anabel says that would be a huge negative if we can prove Claire is still taking drugs."
"And just how do we prove that. I highly doubt my sister will be honest enough to admit that even under oath. Can we force her to take a drug test?"
"Anabel suggests we have a private investigator watch her for a couple weeks before you file any papers. Anabel has a very reliable guy that she uses in cases like this but it would be pretty expensive. You would need to hold off filing for custody so Claire doesn't get a lawyer who would warn her about being watched."
Brian snorted. "I've warned my mother that I will cut off my monthly stipend to her if they get a lawyer. They won't be able to afford any kind of decent lawyer. Without my money things will be pretty tight with them financially."
"You can't cut off that money to your mother. That would look bad, like you were trying to make sure they didn't have proper legal representation. Again we don't want it to look like you are trying to punish your mother or your sister."
Brian rolled his eyes. "Go ahead and hire the detective. He should also keep his eye on Joan. My mother is an alcoholic. Every week she drives to different state stores to buy her vodka. We need to discuss this whole custody thing but if we move forward I think it is important to show that neither Claire nor Joan would be suitable guardians."
Larry took a document out of his briefcase and passed it to Brian. "You'll need to sign this to authorize the private investigator. We'll let him know to watch both your mother and sister. Anabel will be your main contact for the custody case. She will let you know if the investigator uncovers anything important and you will need to let her know what you and Justin decide to do about seeking custody."
With handshakes all around the meeting was over and Larry left. Brian and Justin decided to go out for lunch.